U.S. President Barack Obama is promising to stay engaged in politics and public affairs long after he leaves the White House in 2017.
Obama told members of the activist group Organizing for Action (OFA) in Washington, D.C., Monday that he will still hold "the most important office in our democracy" - that of an ordinary citizen.
"Our unfinished business does not depend solely on me, or on a member of Congress, or the next president we elect,” Obama said. “It depends on us - what we, the people, can do together, and that's something that I'm going to be focusing on in my final year in office."
Pledging to pursue an “engaged, active, focused citizenship,” the president called on his supporters to do the same.
“So if you want to help me, OFA, I need you to stay involved. I need you to stay active. I need you to recruit other citizens. We’ve got to keep organizing. We’ve got to keep mobilizing. We’ve got to lift up issues we care about," he said.
Obama boasted of a number of accomplishments during his White House tenure, such as the recovering economy, health care reform, and last week's decision to kill the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline.
Organizing for Action is a grassroots public advocacy group that evolved from Obama's two successful White House campaign organizations in 2008 and 2012.
